Conveyer truck



N. PSENKA CONVEYER TRUCK April 27 1925.

Filed April 30, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l CEDE' N'CHOLS PSE/WKN. NVENTOR n BY 0 ATTORNEY April 27,1926. 1,582,783

` N. PSENKA CONYEYER TRUCK Filed April 50, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 N/CHLAS PSENKH. NVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 27, 1926.

UNITED STATES NICHOLAS PSENKA, 0F CANTON, OHIO.

CONVEYER TRUCK.

Application filed April so, 1925. serial No. 27,083.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, NICHOLAS PsENKA. a citizen of the United States, residing at Canton, in the county of Stark and State of Ollio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Conveyer Trucks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to truck bodies, and more particularly to what I term a conveyer truck.

One of the main objects of the invention is to provide a. truck body and means associated therewith whereby coal and other materials of a similar nature may be readily discharged from the body. A further object is to provide simple and efficient means for feeding the material from the body onto the conveyer, this means being so constructed and arranged as to effectua-lly prevent choking or jamming of the conveyer. Further objects will appear from the detail description.

In the drawings:-

Figure 1 is a plan view of the truck body partly broken away;

Figure 2 is a section taken substantially on line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is a front view of the truck body;

Figure 4 is a section taken substantially on line %4 of Fig. 1;

Figure 5 is a section taken substantially on line 5*-5 of Fig. 4;

Figure 6 is a section taken substantially on line 6-6 of Fig. 2;

Figure 7 is a detail of the clutch member secured on the drive shaft;

Figure 8 is a detail of the connection between the conveyer cover plate and the operating lever therefor.

The truck includes a body 1 supported upon a frame 2 of any suitable or preferred construction, this body including side plates 3 and bottom plates 4 and 5 which are inclined downwardly and inwardly from the ends of the body so as to form a bottom of substantially V-shape in longitudinal section. This serves to cause material within body 1 to flow to the lower central portion thereof.

A conveyer frame 6 is supported by body frame 2 beneath the rearward bottom plate 5, this conveyer frame being disposed below and normally adjacent to plate 5. A shaft 7 is rotatably mounted in the upper portion of frame 6 transversely thereof and a shaft 8 is similarly mounted in brackets @extending from the lower portion of frame 6. Shaft 8 also passes through brackets 6b secured to sills 2a which support the cross-beams 2b to which frame 2 is secured. This provides a hinge mounting for the lower end of the conveyer, for a purpose to be described. Sprocket-wheels 9 are secured on these shafts and receive chains 10 passed about the same, these chains being connected by flights 11 which, on the upper run of the conveyer, travel upon the upper face of the bottom of a trough formed by side rails 6and plate 6c of the conveyer structure. A bevel gear 12 is secured on shaft 8 and meshes with a bevel gear 13 secured on the rearward end of` a counter-shaft 14 and a sprocket-wheel 15 is secured on the forward end of this shaft and receives a chain 16 which also passes about a sprocket pinion 17 secured on a clutch member 18 which extends about and is spaced from a drive-shaft 19 which may be driven in any suitable or preferred manner from the engine of an automobile truck in connection with which the body 1 is'used, this shaft being usually an extension of the engine crank shaft. Clutch member 18 coacts with a clutch member 2() which fits about the rearward end portion of shaft 19 and is securedv by cap screws 21 in a sectional clamp 22 which is tightly secured about shaft 19 for rotation therewith. When clutch member 18 is in engagement with clutch member 2O sprocket-wheel 17 is rotated with shaft 19 so as to drive the elevator through the counter-shaft 14 andassociated parts. As members 18 and 20 are of -greater interior diameter than the diameter of shaft 19, vibration due to rotation of this shaft will not be translnitted tomember 18 and associated parts. This relieves the clutch and associated parts of undesirable strains a-nd vibration and consequent wear, which is a desirable feature in mechanism of this character. y

A bracket 23 of inverted U-shape is secured to the'front of body frame 2 and slidably supports a bar 24 the body portion 24a of which is of squared cross-section. This bar is provided, at its rearward end, with a depending arm 25 having at its lower end a sectional or collar strap 26 which is secured about the neck of clutch member 18 in such manner as to permit rotation of the clutch member while ensuring movement of with' clutch member 20. The bar 242L is fur- Al:ther provided at..its'inner-end with an upwardly projecting-lug 29 withk which conthe clutchniember along shaft 19 into and out of operative position in accordance with adjustment of arm 25. An expansion spring 27 is mounted about the body 24a of bar 24 and is confined between the inner 'arm of bracket 23 and a stop member such as screw 28 secured through the body of the bar adjacent the outer endtheerof, lThis spring acts to urge the bar in such'direction as to moveclutch member 18 out of-engageineiit tacts a iiiiger 30a-:provided at the lov-.fer end "of: a clutch vcontrol rod 30' and disposedl at iiglitfangles thereto. `Rod 30 is rockably @mounted through the-inner endportion of the top ofbracket=23 Aand through a bracket 31 securedftofbody france2. An operating lever 32 -issecured ont-he upper endv of' the rodfor turning` the same in proper directionfor throwing the elevatorl into and out 'of\ operation. By turning rod 30 so as to position vnger-T3Oa as illustrated in Fig. 4, clutchinember '18 is moved into engagement VVwith'clutch memberv 2O thus throwing the t elevator into operation. .-By turning rod 30 y softhatfinger 30L is disposed substantially at right angles 'to the position lillustrated `in Figx4,Y arm 25: .isireleased. and bar 24-.is

Y moved rfoi'rwalrdly byspring 27 disengaging and-throwing the elevator out of operation. f xThis provides simple and f eicient means clutch-member18 from clutch member 20 `whereby ythe 4:operati on v of the elevator can f be readily controlled and, in practice, the

rlever 32 is positioned 'adjacent the cabof `thetruck so as to bereadily accessible from the drivers seat.

1 To prevent cloggiiigiorchoking of the elevator I provide a coverplate 33 which is 'mountedf'adjacent' the `underface of bottom plate 5 and operates through slots 34 pro- 1. vided through angle bars 34a and plates34" depending. therefrorm; the,v plates being also provided with slots-which are aligned-with the slots of the angle bars. The angle bars w34a are rigidly-.secured `in frame 2 adjacent wand. parallel with the side rails ofthe con- Iveyer frame and co-operate with plates 34" to' provide a well in which the conveyer operates. Plate 33 is slidably supported upon rods 35 provided'for this purpose, or in vany other suitable or preferred manner, and thed plate'is'of` suclr width that the lower inner @corner portion-thereof fitsinto the vlower Aendof slot'34 whent the vplate is in :open position, -outwardmovementl of the plate away -fromthe conveyer being limited by the side members :of the-body'frame 2. A bracket 36 wissecured to the underface of plate 33 at 1 thecentral portion oftheouter edge thereof.

This bracket-is vprovided with a 'depending slotted lug` 37 which receives the flattened upper port-ion 38a of a sleeve. 38, this sleeve being pivotally secured in lug 37 by a pin 39. Sleeve 38 slidablyreceives the upper portion of an arm 40au provided at the inner end of a rod 40 rockably mount-ed on crossbeams 2bbeneath the body frame 2, arm 40 being disposed at right angles to the rod Vand rigidly secured thereto as by being formed integrally with the rod, as illustrated, or in any other suitable or preferred manner. Anoperating lever 41 is'secured ing from the lower edge of pla-te 5 to within f a shorttlistanceof the upper .edge thereof, -as illustrated.. ldlhen it is/desiredmto discharge the coal from the body plate 34 is moved into 4cpe-nposition gradually so as to permit the upper portion of the load ofcoal or other material-tofirst enterithe upper portion of the conveyer trough from ywhich it is removed by .meansv ofthe flights 11, the conveyer being thrown into;operation before plate 34 is moved in opening direction. -ris willbe noted from Figure .1, the inner edge 34c of cover plate 34 is'beveled upwardly land outwardlyso that, as `theplate is `inoved 'into open position, the opening through which the coal/ris adinitted'to the .conveye-r trough willgraduallyl increase downwardly of the conveyer andthe con- 'veyer trough-will f not be ycompletely uncovered until the greater portion Ao'tithe load has been discharged from thetrough; This effectually prevents' such a quantity of coal from entering the conveyer trough as; would tend to choke the-conveyer .or seriously interfere with its operation. -By the time the `conveyer cover plate is moved into full lopen position practically all of thecoal or other material will have been. discharged from the body with the exception of a small quantity which may collect in the bottom of the-body at either side ofthe conveyer trough. This residue can be readily-shoveled or scraped into the conveyer trough and discharged therefrom. To `prevent any coal or other material from being discharged from the lower end of the conveyer I provide a gate 42 which is hingedly secured at 43 tothe central one of the cross-beams 2b which tits 'intoV the lower portion of the-:conveyer trough. This gate is provided, atits iearward end, with an .upwardly projecting flange 44. The gate is raised by the flights 11 as they pass beneath the gate so that operation of the conveyer is not interfered with. This provides simple and efficient means whereby the contents of the body can be readily discharged and loss of any portion of the contents through the lower end of the conveyer trough is eliminated.

In practice, a suitable chute may be connected to the upper end of the conveyer trough in any suitable or preferred manner so as to direct the coal or other material discharged from the conveyer to any desired point. The inclination of the conveyer can be adjusted by means of a supporting rod 45 which can be inserted through any one, selectively, of two or more sets of angle brackets 46 secured to the under face of the conveyer frame, this rod being also inserted through suitable openings 4:7 provided through the rear uprights of the frame structure, the dierent series of openings being positioned to support the conveyer at the desired inclination. This adjustment of the conveyer is permitted by the hinge connection provided by the shaft 8 and associated parts, previously referred to.

By constructing and arranging the conveyer and the parts associated therewith in the manner illustrated and described, I effect a very material saving in time in unloading trucks for carrying coal, gravel and other materials of a similar character in addition to providing means whereby this unloading can be quickly and easily effected by one man and with power obtained from the engine of an automobile truck of which the body forms a part. This results in effecting a considerable saving in the cost of handling and delivering coal, gravel, and

materials of a similar character thus beneting both the producer and the consumer. As will be understood, and as indicated herein, changes in construction and arrangement of parts of the invention can be resorted to without departing from the field and scope of the same, and I intend to include all such variations, as fall within the scope of the appended claims, in this application in which a preferred form only of my invention is disclosed.

IVhat I claim is:-

l. In combination with a truck body including a trough and a conveyer operating in the trough for removing Amaterial therefrom, of a movable cover for the conveyer, and a gate member fitting in an end of the trough and in operative contact with the conveyer to prevent escape of material admitted to the conveyer upon removal of the cover therefrom and having an upturned portion disposed beneath a wall of the body opposite the trough.

2. In combination with a truck body including a trough, of a conveyer operable in the' trough for removing material therefrom, and a cover for said conveyer having an oblique edge portion movable transversely of the conveyer.

3. In combination with a truck body having a bottom wall of approximately V-shape in longitudinal section, a trough mounted beneath and closely adjacent one portion ofl said bottom wall, a conveyer operating in the trough and including ights disposed to remove material from the trough, a cover plate slidably mounted adjacent the bottom wall of the body and movable across the trough for covering the same, the inner edge of said plate being inclined downwardly and inwardly toward the trough, means for moving said plate into and out of operative position, and means for operating the conveyer.

4. In combination with a truck body having a bottom wall of approximately V-shape in longitudinal section, a trough mounted beneath and adjacent one inclined portion of said bottom wall, said trough being adjustable to vary its inclination, a conveyer operating in the trough and including flights disposed to elevate and discharge material from the trough, a closure plate slidably mounted beneathl the body and movable into posit-ion to cover the trough,4 means for moving said plate into and out of operative position, and means for operating the conveyer.

5. In combination with a truck body including a trough, of a conveyer operable in the tro-ugh for removing material therefrom,

and a cover movable transversely of the conveyer and having a tapered edge adapted when the cover is moved transversely of the conveyer to gradually enlarge an opening for admission of material to the trough to be removed by the conveyer.

6. In combination with a truck body including a bottom wall of approximately V- shape in longitudinal section, a trough mounted beneath and adjacent one inclined portion of the bottom wall, means for optionally covering and uncovering said trough, means for elevating material in the trough and discharging it therefrom, and a gate member hingedly mounted adjacent the other inclined portion of the bottom wall of the body and fitting into the lower end of the trough so as to prevent escape of material from the lower end of the conveyer.

In testimony whereof I aiiiX my signature.

NICHOLAS PSENKA.

llO 

